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I just returned my sensation. Or my usability study of the sensation.

I just tried to make the switch from at&t to t-mobile. I had my sensation for about a week, and just returned it this morning.
Reasons I loved the sensation.
Decent battery life *(not as great as everyone made me expect.
Awesome Camera, especially outside- I really could see myself using this phone as a replacement for a cheap point and shoot.
The hardware was pretty much all around fantastic. Great feel in hand. A ton thinner than the evo 3d, especially around the edges. This phone has such a nice shape that it almost gets lost in my pocket. I actually found myself grabbing my pocket to make sure it hadn't fallen out.
The wifi-calling was a great value add.
The screen was fantastic. My next phone will have to have a qhd or better display (no sgsII for me). Say what you want about contrast ratios, but I rarely use my phone outside. Having the extra pixels however was absolutely awesome for browsing the web. The extra pixels also made living without a hardware keyboard a little bit easier to bare *(when in portrait mode).
The unlock page that came with sense 3.0. Other than that sense just seemed to get in my way.
FM radio. I'm the guy who wants to watch and listen to the tv-s at the gym.
Why I just couldn't risk spending 2 years with it.
I had no reception at my house or work on t-mo. This is really the biggest reason why I had to return my phone.
Because of the above the cell radio was draining the battery attempting to connect to the networks. I really don't want to spend two years having to remember to turn off the cell radio every time I get home.
T-mobile support was an exercise in frustration to deal with.
Will I still even get 3g/4g service in 2 years? This is debatable. AT&T will have to repurpose some of T-mo's spectrum from somewhere.
The built-in picasa upload is broken *(I use this all the time).
No way to jump to the galery app when in camera mode. This seems like a really obvious omission.
The speakephone volume over wifi calling really shouldn't be considered a speakerphone at all. I couldn't test speakerphone over t-mo because I never had reception when I wanted to make a call.
There was no setting to auto disable the cell radio when connected over wi-fi and wi-fi calling was enabled. I admit this is a nit-pick, but it really would have been nice.
I counted at least 3 backup apps all of which were trying to send my contacts to different parts of the world. Why do I need to backup any of my contacts? For me everything is in google, that's why I want an android phone. The killer part about this is that these apps will suck your battery dry.
Currently no way to remove all the crap-ware that t-mo stuffs it's phones with. There is a lot of it. I bet that is why there is so much discussion about the a performance problem between the sensation and the evo 3d screen rotate speed.
No NFC. Not really a deal-breaker, but it is disappointing.
So give me a non-bloatwared, boot-loader unlocked sensation, add NFC, put it on a carrier that gives me reception, and I'll have my next phone. As for now I'll have to live with my rooted/ cyanogen-modded G1 on AT&T.
--troll away!--

npoc said:
Why I just could risk spending 2 years with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you accidentally a conjunction in there

xnifex said:
I think you accidentally a conjunction in there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lulz irony abounds, he missed a conjunction and you omitted a word from your sentence, pointing out his omitted conjunction @[email protected]
npoc said:
I just tried to make the switch from at&t to t-mobile. I had my sensation for about a week, and just returned it this morning.
Reasons I loved the sensation.
Decent battery life *(not as great as everyone made me expect.
Awesome Camera, especially outside- I really could see myself using this phone as a replacement for a cheap point and shoot.
The hardware was pretty much all around fantastic. Great feel in hand. A ton thinner than the evo 3d, especially around the edges. This phone has such a nice shape that it almost gets lost in my pocket. I actually found myself grabbing my pocket to make sure it hadn't fallen out.
The wifi-calling was a great value add.
The screen was fantastic. My next phone will have to have a qhd or better display (no sgsII for me). Say what you want about contrast ratios, but I rarely use my phone outside. Having the extra pixels however was absolutely awesome for browsing the web. The extra pixels also made living without a hardware keyboard a little bit easier to bare *(when in portrait mode).
The unlock page that came with sense 3.0. Other than that sense just seemed to get in my way.
FM radio. I'm the guy who wants to watch and listen to the tv-s at the gym.
Why I just could risk spending 2 years with it.
I had no reception at my house or work on t-mo. This is really the biggest reason why I had to return my phone.
Because of the above the cell radio was draining the battery attempting to connect to the networks. I really don't want to spend two years having to remember to turn off the cell radio every time I get home.
T-mobile support was an exercise in frustration to deal with.
Will I still even get 3g/4g service in 2 years? This is debatable. AT&T will have to repurpose some of T-mo's spectrum from somewhere.
The built-in picasa upload is broken *(I use this all the time).
No way to jump to the galery app when in camera mode. This seems like a really obvious omission.
The speakephone volume over wifi calling really shouldn't be considered a speakerphone at all. I couldn't test speakerphone over t-mo because I never had reception when I wanted to make a call.
There was no setting to auto disable the cell radio when connected over wi-fi and wi-fi calling was enabled. I admit this is a nit-pick, but it really would have been nice.
I counted at least 3 backup apps all of which were trying to send my contacts to different parts of the world. Why do I need to backup any of my contacts? For me everything is in google, that's why I want an android phone. The killer part about this is that these apps will suck your battery dry.
Currently no way to remove all the crap-ware that t-mo stuffs it's phones with. There is a lot of it. I bet that is why there is so much discussion about the a performance problem between the sensation and the evo 3d screen rotate speed.
No NFC. Not really a deal-breaker, but it is disappointing.
So give me a non-bloatwared, boot-loader unlocked sensation, add NFC, put it on a carrier that gives me reception, and I'll have my next phone. As for now I'll have to live with my rooted/ cyanogen-modded G1 on AT&T.
--troll away!--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Also to the OP: A bunch of these problems are fixable with root, also there is a way to go to the gallery from the stock camera app... and even if there wasn't why wouldn't you just DL a camera app from market that would allow you to do what you wanted?
- Turn off the other contacts backup services... I did
- Why wouldn't you have 4g in 2 years? 4G will actually be much faster in two years and will be approaching "actual" 4G speeds.
- You couldnt do a one click disable of the cell radio while on wifi and wifi calling was enabled because that happens automatically.
- Speakerphone was too low on wifi calling? Wow, that's probably fixable as well.
- And if you have a smart phone YOU will need to learn how to manage its battery life. The Sensation actually does have preeettty good battery life for a smartphone.
Cheers, good luck on ATT we'll all probably be there next year anyway.

Thats def not a good experience; as you say it sounds mostly coverage related which is the case for most carriers. Tmo has always been good to me where ive lived (4g here where i work and around my home).
Every phone/network won't work for everyone. Although the NFC is something that initially gave me pause, but I really don't see that being something i won't be able to live without in just 2 years; it's barely rolled out; not to mention text transactions and CC soda machines are also on the rise.
I am personally a little annoyed with how sense handles (or doesn't) the picasa gallery (Why can't i make a slide show with my picasa stuff).
Enjoy your G1 even with cyanogen; not sure I could go back THAT far even if I had crappy service
I am missing my MIUI though, still running my N1 with MIUI latest and it's been getting amazingly robust the past few updates (5 way unlock specifically).

I believe the Cell Radios turn off when you activate WiFi calling. And I have a way to get to the gallery from my camera app...
A G1 though?! I'd rather take all the cons you listed than go all the way back to that poor thing, on EDGE no less. G1 was awesome back in the day, but now you're just torturing the poor thing.

npoc said:
So give me a non-bloatwared, boot-loader unlocked sensation, add NFC, put it on a carrier that gives me reception, and I'll have my next phone. As for now I'll have to live with my rooted/ cyanogen-modded G1 on AT&T.
--troll away!--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you buy an unlocked manufacturer phone from overseas your stuck with carrier bloatware and hardware/software changes. That or one of the Nexus series. And your only choice for NFC right now is Nexus. So I think we've found your next phone.

B3astofthe3ast said:
I believe the Cell Radios turn off when you activate WiFi calling. And I have a way to get to the gallery from my camera app...
A G1 though?! I'd rather take all the cons you listed than go all the way back to that poor thing, on EDGE no less. G1 was awesome back in the day, but now you're just torturing the poor thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure i had to manually disable the cell radios if I wanted them off when on wi-fi. It did however route my calls over wi-fi automatically. It did not automatically turn off my cell radio when wi-fi calling was enabled. When I was at work or at home, the power graph was pretty ugly with the cell radios on.

BonesRed said:
Lulz irony abounds, he missed a conjunction and you omitted a word from your sentence, pointing out his omitted conjunction @[email protected]
- Also to the OP: A bunch of these problems are fixable with root, also there is a way to go to the gallery from the stock camera app... and even if there wasn't why wouldn't you just DL a camera app from market that would allow you to do what you wanted?
- Turn off the other contacts backup services... I did
- Why wouldn't you have 4g in 2 years? 4G will actually be much faster in two years and will be approaching "actual" 4G speeds.
- You couldnt do a one click disable of the cell radio while on wifi and wifi calling was enabled because that happens automatically.
- Speakerphone was too low on wifi calling? Wow, that's probably fixable as well.
- And if you have a smart phone YOU will need to learn how to manage its battery life. The Sensation actually does have preeettty good battery life for a smartphone.
Cheers, good luck on ATT we'll all probably be there next year anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said the big reason I had to return it was poor reception.
Being a t-mo customer you are not guaranteed anything over the next 2 years. AT&T is trying to acquire t-mo to repurpose some of t-mo's spectrum. What part of their owned spectrum is anyone's guess
I agree that all the firmware issues are fixable, but they are still annoyances that I shouldn't have to deal with. I don't know how long it will take for HTC to unlock the sensation's bootloader or for someone to get root on the phone, but I had 14 days to make a decision on whether I wanted to be stuck with a 2 year contract. The speakerphone is a firmware deal-breaker for me atm, as I do have to use my phone for conference calls.
As for me my current plan is to find a recent boot-loader unlocked AT&T *cough* 4g compatible phone on craigslist, and then sign a contract on ATT or VZ when the right phone comes up.

in settings, there is an option to what you want it to do...cell preferred, wi-fi preferred, or wifi only

woldy2 said:
in settings, there is an option to what you want it to do...cell preferred, wi-fi preferred, or wifi only
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You completely missed the point. Wi-fi was preferred, but it leaves the cell radio on which drains battery. Better luck next time.

npoc said:
I'm pretty sure i had to manually disable the cell radios if I wanted them off when on wi-fi. It did however route my calls over wi-fi automatically. It did not automatically turn off my cell radio when wi-fi calling was enabled. When I was at work or at home, the power graph was pretty ugly with the cell radios on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get pretty good service even though I live in a basement (I was barely getting any bars on Sprint and Verizon before that). However, I still use WiFi calling to maximize my battery life (and it's working), and I use a Tasker profile to automate turning on wifi, turning off cell radio when it detect the cell towers by my house and my wifi ssid.

relic419 said:
I get pretty good service even though I live in a basement (I was barely getting any bars on Sprint and Verizon before that). However, I still use WiFi calling to maximize my battery life (and it's working), and I use a Tasker profile to automate turning on wifi, turning off cell radio when it detect the cell towers by my house and my wifi ssid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good suggestion, I will have to use that if I ever go back to T-Mo. Still, T-Mo should have made that a setting in their app.

I am about to return mine after 4 days of use. I love the phone and will be exchanging it for a new one.
Mine has started randomly making calls while sitting on my desk charging, The unlock ring started bouncing around the screen when I unlocked it and I had to turn off phone to get it to stop, it can charge all night long and still only show 75%, and I am dropping calls. Not what I want from a $600 device. I hope my second one is up to par. I have never had to exchange a phone with Tmobile before for these reasons.

A few notes.
If you used WiFi calling you wouldn't have to (nor CAN you) turn off the radio. It doesn't drain the battery in WiFi calling mode, you know nothing about how it works.
I upload to Picasa no problem.
Speakerphone volume is always low, the speakerphone sucks.
AT&T support and/or customer service is horrible. If you are speaking with a regular T-Mobile rep (one that does NOT introduce themselves as Android or PDA support) for phone issues you are speaking to the WRONG representative.

I couldn't ever see my self going back to a G1, may as well get out the bag phone again

I'm coming from Sprint and switched to T-Mobile primarily because of WiFi-Calling, and secondly because of the HTC Sensation. Not a single carrier has signal inside my apartment unit. Sprint gave me an Airave which works well for about a year, but recently started giving me problem where I cannot hear the caller, but the caller can hear me most of the time. With T-Mobile's WiFi-Calling, it works all the time. The sound quality may not be the greatest, but acceptable enough that I can have a conversation using it over an hour. On a full charge, 0 bar signal, using WiFi-Calling for almost half an hour, I did not see a drop on my battery charge, not even 1%, last time I checked.
I'm sad to leave Sprint, but T-Mo's WiFi-Calling is unbeatable, specially when travelling overseas.

[Q] - [POLL] Is Your Galaxy S6 Switching to 3G Too Often, 1X Signal or Lousy 4G?

This is not meant to be scientific, however I am trying to get a gauge if this is a larger issue that what some have posted. I have a new Galaxy S6 that I activated on launch day. My previous 2 phones are and S4 and S5 most recently. I am fairly savvy in knowing my network strength locally and places I frequent. Since switching to the S6 from my S5 I have been on 3G in know very good 4G areas alot of the time. Not only that but I have seen the dreaded 1X more times in the last few days in areas I have had religiously great 4G coverage on for years. I have dropped 3 calls of which I havent done in probably 4 years as well. I have done tests with an S4 and S5 right next to my new S6 where I can pull 15-20Mbs on either of those two phones where my new S6 gets between 0.5Mbs and 1.5Mbs.
I have checked the signal strength between the two sitting right along side each other S5 (111DBs) - S6 (98DBs) I personally have no idea the order of magnitude between 1-10 DBs if that would make that much of a dramatic difference, but real world testing there is either something wrong with my specific unit or hoping its not extremely widespread. There is a thread in general that we have been posting to but the change has been so dramatic if it was more widespread i would think alot more folks would be posting. So in order to find out if this is specific to myself and a few others in that thread or more widespread hardware/software issue I am throwing up a poll. Please take a few seconds and vote.

i work in my basement in a major city area and all my previous phones would get 3 bars of LTE in my office here. my S6 Edge gets occasional 1 bar of LTE mixed with 1X very often.
i am connected to wifi here and it hasnt affected my using it for work but have noticed this and prefer it worked at least as well as my older devices.
i am generally not a "numbers" watcher on things like this or battery and more of a "as long as it works as i need it" user but i noticed the 1X because i am not use to seeing it.
also i should add that i noticed under battery that #1 for me is always "Cell Standby" and i have to assume they are related?

fletch33 said:
i work in my basement in a major city area and all my previous phones would get 3 bars of LTE in my office here. my S6 Edge gets occasional 1 bar of LTE mixed with 1X very often.
i am connected to wifi here and it hasnt affected my using it for work but have noticed this and prefer it worked at least as well as my older devices.
i am generally not a "numbers" watcher on things like this or battery and more of a "as long as it works as i need it" user but i noticed the 1X because i am not use to seeing it.
also i should add that i noticed under battery that #1 for me is always "Cell Standby" and i have to assume they are related?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far every time a Verizon user has had Cell Standby at the top, it's been with wifi on. After your next full charge, leave wifi turned off completely for awhile and see if Cell Standby shows up at the top again.
What makes this a major problem is the fact that Verizon's VoLTE is fully dependent on a decent LTE signal.

jntdroid said:
So far every time a Verizon user has had Cell Standby at the top, it's been with wifi on. After your next full charge, leave wifi turned off completely for awhile and see if Cell Standby shows up at the top again.
What makes this a major problem is the fact that Verizon's VoLTE is fully dependent on a decent LTE signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have read that as well and i guess i could do that but i really need Wifi on when my office signal is so often on 1X

Yes testing it today, it is very bad. Getting about 1Mbps when not using Wi-Fi.
Sent from my SM-G920V using XDA Premium HD app

Our new S6 is doing this same thing. Jumps from a strong 4G signal to 1X with no signal the second you make a call. :crying:
Is there a fix for this besides returning the phone?

Enable advanced calling on your account and on your phone. Also switch from Global to LTE/CDMA
Sent from my LG-VS985 using Tapatalk

bkuhl said:
Enable advanced calling on your account and on your phone. Also switch from Global to LTE/CDMA
Sent from my LG-VS985 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, But than I loose my Caller ID / Name / Number. I need the caller ID.

Then buy the Caller ID feature. Your phone is switching to 1X when making a phone call because the S6 doesn't support voice and data simultaneously unless you have Advanced Calling on and enabled and are in LTE coverage area. The S6 only has a dual band modem.
Sent from my LG-VS985 using Tapatalk

HD Voice feature needs to be turned on, but don't!
Hey guys I've talked about this in different forums and sites, I'll copy and paste it here and hopefully it will help you understand why you can't place calls using the 4G LTE without having the Advance calling feature turned on under the Verizon network.
"Verizon is aware of the HD voice/video feature being the culprit of the dropped calls, they are blaming Samsung for not pushing an update to correct the problem. Meanwhile Samsung has said that the feature is a Verizon software. I was told by their tech support that it has been reported that there's a 50% dropped call increase using the galaxy S6 while having the HD voice/video feature on, this was 2 weeks ago. The agent said they have a search tool like Google search, this is internal and that's where he found this information.
You can not make calls and surf the web without the HD voice/video feature on, but turning this feature off will STOP THE DROPPED calls. Verizon's software side for galaxy S6 does not allow you to make calls on the 4G LTE network when the HD voice/video feature off, instead is shows 1x.
I have been in touch with Verizon wireless tech support for the last 3 weeks now, this past week Verizon has been sending me texts to update me on the progress of my ticket. I've had Samsung tech support in conference call with Verizon tech support; during this call that lasted more than 3 hours Verizon admitted that it wasn't a Samsung problem but Verizon's. As soon as the tech from Samsung hanged up the call because we were told that I would have to call their engineering department to further assist us. Before the Samsung tech agent hung up the call we had asked if I could make calls using the 4G LTE and was told to hold up while he researched this question. As soon as the Samsung tech agent left the conference call the Verizon tech answered no, and proceeded to make a complete 360 on answers he gave prior to the Samsung agent leaving the call, saying that the problem was not a Verizon but Samsung problem, even though moments before he said that it wasn't a Samsung problem to me and the Samsung tech support agent but Verizon's. I was also advised by the Verizon tech agent that if I wanted to, I could JAIL BRAKE my Galaxy S6 and download a software to disable the HD voice/video feature without losing the 4G LTE but that it probably still won't work properly. I told this agent that I've never jail broken a device and don't plan on because this is clearly a Verizon feature not working properly.
Not even 5 minutes after ending the call with Verizon's tech support, a supervisor from Verizon called me to tell me again that this is a Samsung issue not Verizon, he said that Samsung needs to push a SW version update to fix the problem with the HD voice calls dropping. He asked what I wanted, I said to get the Galaxy S5 and return this phone, but that I was told by 2 different stores (Rockville Centre NY, and Merrick NY both in Long Island) that if I wanted to return this phone or exchange for a different one I would be charged a 40% restocking fee even though I was within my 14 days. I was told by the tech before the supervisor called that it was at each store's discretion whether they charged you a restocking fee or not. I was told to consider this mater resolved by the supervisor, that they will get in touch with the store so I can return the phone and if in fact there are any fees I would be refunded in some sort of credit; but all I've received all of last week is text messages letting me know they are still working on my ticket."

ok i know this will sound crazy BUT i cracked the screen on my S6 Edge and got sent a new replacement (after deductible) and i swear in the same basement office i was using my original release day S6 my reception is much better.
i cant say if i just needed to do a reset on the original or what may be at play here but i can say with certainty that using the new one all day today i have not seen a single 1X or even gone below 2 bars where my original was often on 1X sitting in the same chair and location. no doubt its better but cant say why for sure except i am using a new device.
sidenote - the screen on my 1st one had much whiter whites and this new one has a slight more of a yellowish tint to it but this is not an area i am over concerned about and just something i noticed right away and then held them side by side before i shipped the cracked original back

fletch33 said:
ok i know this will sound crazy BUT i cracked the screen on my S6 Edge and got sent a new replacement (after deductible) and i swear in the same basement office i was using my original release day S6 my reception is much better.
i cant say if i just needed to do a reset on the original or what may be at play here but i can say with certainty that using the new one all day today i have not seen a single 1X or even gone below 2 bars where my original was often on 1X sitting in the same chair and location. no doubt its better but cant say why for sure except i am using a new device.
sidenote - the screen on my 1st one had much whiter whites and this new one has a slight more of a yellowish tint to it but this is not an area i am over concerned about and just something i noticed right away and then held them side by side before i shipped the cracked original back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Unfortunately I've had three S6's and all behaved similarly with weaker LTE signal and more frequent drops to 3G.
Also, the screen thing is the one thing that bugs me about amoled, and qhd amoled at that. On my third device and all three have had some variation of the pink hue, and while quite subtle, once you see it you can't unsee it.

jntdroid said:
Interesting. Unfortunately I've had three S6's and all behaved similarly with weaker LTE signal and more frequent drops to 3G.
Also, the screen thing is the one thing that bugs me about amoled, and qhd amoled at that. On my third device and all three have had some variation of the pink hue, and while quite subtle, once you see it you can't unsee it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if people are still watching this thread but my signal is awful! I have an international variant here in Alaska SM-G920I... The firmware is from February! Did an update fix your issues with poor signal?

fletch33 said:
i work in my basement in a major city area and all my previous phones would get 3 bars of LTE in my office here. my S6 Edge gets occasional 1 bar of LTE mixed with 1X very often.
i am connected to wifi here and it hasnt affected my using it for work but have noticed this and prefer it worked at least as well as my older devices.
i am generally not a "numbers" watcher on things like this or battery and more of a "as long as it works as i need it" user but i noticed the 1X because i am not use to seeing it.
also i should add that i noticed under battery that #1 for me is always "Cell Standby" and i have to assume they are related?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exact same situation here. Work in the basement at my house in a major area; down here I get 3G or 1X. Upstairs i'm getting 3G or 1bar LTE and it flips a lot. Battery seems to drain like crazy when this is happening, and I'm on WiFi the entire time. I had a total of 2.2 hours SOT yesterday and was at 14% when I plugged it back in. Cell standby was around 35% at that time.

I've noticed lately my S6 keeps locking onto 3G only even though the BRV T1114 running my home internet stays on LTE without issue. I had to ODIN my S6 cuz I messed it up then like a bonehead applied the OF1 update without thinking now I can't root it. If I could, would it be a good idea to lock it to band 13 all the time? That's what the T1114 Router uses and stays connected all the time. Sigh.....
I've noticed that if I leave it sitting on the table/bed for a while, it locks to LTE then when I start using it again after a minute or so it goes back to 3G only. Damn.

I saw 1x quite frequent with an s6 and a black screen that only recovery booting would get me powered on. Before and after rooting. But I unrooted and return and exchanged it and now all is well no more 1x or black screen issue knock on wood
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Free mobile app

My Samsung rep at work said its due to the S6 only having one antenna vs. the S5 having two antennae(s).

DeathAngel66669 said:
My Samsung rep at work said its due to the S6 only having one antenna vs. the S5 having two antennae(s).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That technically shouldn't matter because one was dedicated to voice only, but who knows at this point... I'm kinda tired of Verizon's inability, 4 years after the fact, to handle the LTE/3G handoff and "hold onto" issues.

T-Mobile Gear S2 4G Share your experience.....

Hi Guys...
Just got my Gear S2 4G. from one of the nearby T-mobile Store.
I am just loving it.
best thing we can receive calls..
also we can see whats app notification and reply them.....
loving my Gear S2.... :laugh:
:good:

How are liking the extra bulk in th rear of the watch?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using XDA Free mobile app

I just received mine last night but sadly I have to return it today. Mine won't connect to tmobile network I went through troubleshooting with both tmobile and Samsung but still no result. I get full bars but says no service and can only make emergency calls when not connected via Bluetooth. I love the watch and otherwise it works great when connected to Bluetooth.
I am currently trying to find a store with another one in Stock to swap mine out because I got the last one at my tmobile and no other local stores have them.
As for the bulk on the back of the watch I just came from a moto 360 so I was surprised at the bulk when I first put it on but have since got used to it. I'll deal with it a little bulkier for a speaker to make calls and play music and also for 4g connectivity.
Anyone else having activation issues? Seems with a quick Google search I'm not the only one with the issue
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

Shipped
Mine shipped today! I currently have a Gear 2 so hoping there won't be much of a learning curve

Everyone is having problems with the network the esim isn't letting it conect to the network call and they will prorate the cost

ocjelf said:
Everyone is having problems with the network the esim isn't letting it conect to the network call and they will prorate the cost
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just picked one up at my local store. As stated above they are having trouble connecting the S2 4G to the network. It works great on BT using the mobile phone to place and take calls. Did a couple calls in my car with it and the speaker was loud enough to hear over road noise.
The T-Mobile Manager got on the line with support and a service ticket is opened up on my watch as well as many more over the stand alone network problem.

On Android central forums a tmo employee said it would be couple days until they get the fix

Got my S2 in the mail today. Won't connect to Tmobile network either

ocjelf said:
On Android central forums a tmo employee said it would be couple days until they get the fix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When they opened up my support ticket at the T-Mobile store they told me it might take up to 72 hours (3 days) before it was resolved.

Yea hopefully sooner I'm gear s less ( in repair) and the gear s2 isn't working on 3g so Im without a stand alone watch atm

I could call 611 until they associated the eSIM with my line, and now it's emergency calls only. Talked to T-Mobile and they say they're going to manually provision it and it'll take between 2 and 48 hours. We'll see.
Maybe a better question is is there anyone with an S2 active on T-Mobile right now.

Lucent said:
I could call 611 until they associated the eSIM with my line, and now it's emergency calls only. Talked to T-Mobile and they say they're going to manually provision it and it'll take between 2 and 48 hours. We'll see.
Maybe a better question is is there anyone with an S2 active on T-Mobile right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the answer is "No"
The launch is a disaster....... the problem is not the network failure but its the loss of all the technical department to even understand it. You can't fix something without knowing whats wrong with it
---------- Post added at 09:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 AM ----------
raman21raman said:
Hi Guys...
Just got my Gear S2 4G. from one of the nearby T-mobile Store.
I am just loving it.
best thing we can receive calls..
also we can see whats app notification and reply them.....
loving my Gear S2.... :laugh:
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might be the only Gear S2 user with a network connection
Have you tried making a phone call (without bluetooth)
I am connected to the network now and can only use data, no calls though

Let's trade!
So I have a silver S2 sport comes with a spare white band, so I'd like to trade straight up my spare white band with someone who has a spare black band. Any takers?

I'm online now with T-Mobile. Everything is fully functional.

Lucent said:
I'm online now with T-Mobile. Everything is fully functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah me too thanks for making me check.

Lotusmaster said:
So I have a silver S2 sport comes with a spare white band, so I'd like to trade straight up my spare white band with someone who has a spare black band. Any takers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bear in mind, the spare band is smaller (the Gear S2 band is marked "S" or "L" at the clip ends). Unless you have a small frame, you probably want to swap with someone not using the main band because they need a smaller band (like me).
If you'd like to swap your "S" band for a black "L" band, feel free to PM me.
---------- Post added at 06:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 AM ----------
If I turn off bluetooth, I have to set mobile networks to "always on" (from the default "auto on/off") to make calls and connect to data in stand-alone mode.
I figured this out based on an androidcentral forum post:
What finally worked for me was settings>Connections>mobile networks and I changed it from "auto on/off" to "always on" and it worked almost instantly.

mine came yesterday, and they sent me the wrong color!
Hopefully, it wont be a nightmare getting the replacement watch activated when it comes today
Its not encouraging to see these network issues right out of the box, but setting the watch to "always on" seems like a decent option until they get a fix out..
Did any of you change your watch phone number to something else instead the one they gave you, or do they give you one similar to your cell phone number right out of the box?
If you change it to "always on", does it only ring when someone calls the watch phone number, or will it work when your cell phone is called as well?

Lotusmaster said:
So I have a silver S2 sport comes with a spare white band, so I'd like to trade straight up my spare white band with someone who has a spare black band. Any takers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am in

My T-Mobile S2 is now up and operating on the network. They opened my support ticket yesterday afternoon, and this morning it was working. I can do everything (Call/answer/text/use web apps) when I am in stand alone mode (Phone off). Under connections I have my network set to auto on/off. Call forwarding works great.
I had an original Gear S, so they gave me the same number I was using on that. The store reps were great, but initially both they and myself were looking to where I would insert the nano-sim from my old gear. Finally figured out that it was e-Sim only.
Initial battery results are OK, From a full charge at 6:55am until now (1:50pm) I have used 34% battery (remaining 66%). That works out to just under 5% drain per hour. I have NFC, Wifi, and tilt to wake are off, network set to auto (I have walk away from my phone a couple times and the watch has gone into stand alone mode), I am also running screen always on with a Clocki face that has large hands, number, and day/date showing in ambient mode. I get about a 3% per hour drain on my Moto 360 2015 using always on with a detailed ambient face.
So, the S2 battery seems good for first day use, should only get better over the next few days with a few more charge cycles (at least that is what I have seen on several other smartwatches I own).

Bladder61 said:
My T-Mobile S2 is now up and operating on the network. They opened my support ticket yesterday afternoon, and this morning it was working. I can do everything (Call/answer/text/use web apps) when I am in stand alone mode (Phone off). Under connections I have my network set to auto on/off. Call forwarding works great.
I had an original Gear S, so they gave me the same number I was using on that. The store reps were great, but initially both they and myself were looking to where I would insert the nano-sim from my old gear. Finally figured out that it was e-Sim only.
Initial battery results are OK, From a full charge at 6:55am until now (1:50pm) I have used 34% battery (remaining 66%). That works out to just under 5% drain per hour. I have NFC, Wifi, and tilt to wake are off, network set to auto (I have walk away from my phone a couple times and the watch has gone into stand alone mode), I am also running screen always on with a Clocki face that has large hands, number, and day/date showing in ambient mode. I get about a 3% per hour drain on my Moto 360 2015 using always on with a detailed ambient face.
So, the S2 battery seems good for first day use, should only get better over the next few days with a few more charge cycles (at least that is what I have seen on several other smartwatches I own).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have to call in to get a different watch phone number?
After you initially pair the watch to the phone, is it a good idea to turn off the phone completely and test whether stand alone mode works properly, or should you leave them both on and talking to each other for awhile?
I've had many smart watches, but never one with a stand alone dialing function, so I apoligize for the n00b questions..

LG Urbane 21 LTE Released Once More 4/1/2016

Its not been highly publicised to my opinion but the LG Urbane that was recalled last year was released April 1st. I have the old one and returned it and now have the latest release. The watch looks the same. I can't really find much on the specs to see if they changed the processor or anything else. They have addressed some of the issues with the first gen. This is my unboxing video I will have a impressions coming this weekend,
https://youtu.be/EhQA4SdAcDQ
Known Issues:
No Headset support for calls - FIXED
No streaming audio via LTE - Not Fixed
OK Google without the tether to phone or wifi - This is working now. I have been having connectivity issues and now have a different watch. Updated 4/3
Maps without the phone - Partial fix. You can bring up the maps and see your location but no navigation
ATT Number SYNC - Fixed and work really well
Can use GPS for running standalone with Google FIT and Endomodo - FIXED (does not work with run keeper) Updated 4/3
Most if not all watchfaces from Watchmaker work like a charm.
Things that have improved are charging speeds are crazy fast. I am still testing this area as well as battery consumption.
Battery on standby seems to be improved. I had the watch on all night on my wrist, cell active on the watch and wifi. in 8 hours it consumed 4% battery
Let me know what else you recall would not work and I will try to check it out. I am on AT&T
Tip: AT&T was giving $100 dollar credit due to recall. Some have had success taking the LG Urbane 2 orignal back and traded it for the new one and got $100 credit. Sadly that was not my case.
Audio playback doesn't seem to be on par with Samsung S2. The LG Urbane is not as loud and sounds somewhat tiny.
---------------------------- VIDEO UPDATE 4/7/2016 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All, I recorded this video with my impressions of what is fixed and what's not. It's a long video but it covers most of my experience with the watch. I hope it will help you make an educated buying decision.
https://youtu.be/VvzQfAQTzIA

ebpman said:
Its not been highly publicised to my opinion but the LG Urbane that was recalled last year was released April 1st. I have the old one and returned it and now have the latest release. The watch looks the same. I can't really find much on the specs to see if they changed the processor or anything else. They have addressed some of the issues with the first gen. This is my unboxing video I will have a impressions coming this weekend,
https://youtu.be/EhQA4SdAcDQ
Known Issues:
No Headset support for calls - FIXED
No streaming audio via LTE - Not Fixed
OK Google without the tether to phone or wifi - Not Fixed
Maps without the phone - Partial fix. You can bring up the maps and see your location but no navigation
ATT Number SYNC - Fixed and work really well
Can use GPS for running standalone with Google FIT - FIXED (does not work with run keeper)
Things that have improved are charging speeds are crazy fast. I am still testing this area as well as battery consumption.
Battery on standby seems to be improved. I had the watch on all night on my wrist, cell active on the watch and wifi. in 8 hours it consumed 4% battery
Let me know what else you recall would not work and I will try to check it out. I am on ATT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there any way for you to test NumberSync in an area that has less than LTE service? The reason I ask is they are limiting that feature to phones that they label as HDvoice capable, which leaves me with a Nexus 6 unable to use it.

adfurgerson said:
Is there any way for you to test NumberSync in an area that has less than LTE service? The reason I ask is they are limiting that feature to phones that they label as HDvoice capable, which leaves me with a Nexus 6 unable to use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I heard that unfortunately I don't have a non hd phone at this time.

ebpman said:
Yeah, I heard that unfortunately I don't have a non hd phone at this time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, not actually what I was asking. From what I understand HDvoice needs LTE to work , in my area there are plenty of towers that are still HSPA+. I'm just trying to figure out if HDvoice is actually required for NumberSync to work, or if AT&T is using that as a means to force the purchase of a new phone. So my question is whether it works on a network other than LTE, as for the non HD phone you wouldn't be able to NumberSync to it as that is the issue I'm facing.

adfurgerson said:
Thanks, not actually what I was asking. From what I understand HDvoice needs LTE to work , in my area there are plenty of towers that are still HSPA+. I'm just trying to figure out if HDvoice is actually required for NumberSync to work, or if AT&T is using that as a means to force the purchase of a new phone. So my question is whether it works on a network other than LTE, as for the non HD phone you wouldn't be able to NumberSync to it as that is the issue I'm facing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry can't tell. I can say that I will not be using Number sync going forward if performance stays where I see it now. Google voice is a better option, battery life seems to tank with numbersync on. I have been using the watch as a stand alone device. Not paired with my primary phone. I have it paired to my tablet. It doesn't last a full day with numbersync on.

ebpman said:
Sorry can't tell. I can say that I will not be using Number sync going forward if performance stays where I see it now. Google voice is a better option, battery life seems to tank with numbersync on. I have been using the watch as a stand alone device. Not paired with my primary phone. I have it paired to my tablet. It doesn't last a full day with numbersync on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the Sony SmartWatch 2 so I wasn't in a rush to jump into Android Wear, then waited quite a while till this watch was rereleased only to find I can't use the main function properly. As a work around I have forwarded unanswered calls to my watch and left forwarding to voicemail if on another call with phone. Just downloaded an app that lets regular apps be pushed to watch over Bluetooth and am going to test apps for spoofing phone numbers to see if it can make outgoing calls from watch appear as if call came from my phones number. I'll have to look into Google voice, thanks again for the info.

@ebpman my idea to spoof my phones number with an app on the watch isn't practical as all the apps I have found are paid service. If you get time and are feeling generous could you give a quick rundown of how a Google number workaround ring both devices. Also what do you think would happen if you set the Google number to ring your phone and at the same time forwarded your phone's calls to your Google number? Phoneception?

adfurgerson said:
Is there any way for you to test NumberSync in an area that has less than LTE service? The reason I ask is they are limiting that feature to phones that they label as HDvoice capable, which leaves me with a Nexus 6 unable to use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had numbersync working on my gear S2 with an unlocked Sony phone, but I had to have a customer service rep change my imei online to an HD voice phone. It worked perfectly fine until I bought a different phone and my imei changed online, and I no longer have the old imei I gave to CS.
But I can verify the HD voice limitation is a way for them to force you to own one of their phones. I had full functionality when I had it tricked into working.
Numbersync did use a large amount of battery.

runningwarrior08 said:
I had numbersync working on my gear S2 with an unlocked Sony phone, but I had to have a customer service rep change my imei online to an HD voice phone. It worked perfectly fine until I bought a different phone and my imei changed online, and I no longer have the old imei I gave to CS.
But I can verify the HD voice limitation is a way for them to force you to own one of their phones. I had full functionality when I had it tricked into working.
Numbersync did use a large amount of battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, that confirmed my suspicions. Now I have about a week to decide whether to keep this watch or return it.

I'm curious to know how the new watch would work with a T-Mobile phone. Any ideas?

Here is an example of the impact of number sync even with the feature turned off on the watch. See the attached battery image. I have the watch as a standalone solution. I have number sync enabled but off on the watch. As you can see the battery drain is unacceptable. By end of my work day 6 pm I had to put the watch to charge since the battery dropped to 4%. Today the experience has been much different. I removed the function off the watch. So the watch had not record of Number Sync pairing. The watch was unplugged all night from 11 to 5 am. It remained at 100%. I wear the watch at night since I use it for its silent alarm. I am currently at 83% after 1 hr run.

I'm wondering if anyone knows how to keep bluetooth enabled for calls while numbersync is on so I can still answer and receive calls from my phones bluetooth through the watch when in range. It seems that feature disables when numbersync is active.

I also had the first release and now the second release of the LG Urbane 2. I have been having significant issues with number sync (messaging only). I only receive intermittent messages. I have done extensive troubleshooting and have also been to advanced tech support (At&t). They finally told me the "Network" was having number sync issues for messaging with the LG Urbane 2 watch and they expect a 30-60 day resolution window. This problem persists even when connected via bluetooth. At&t advised that messages do not sync via blue tooth when number sync is active, it will always use number sync. So anyway, has anyone heard of this issue or did they just tell me that to get me off the phone and get me to hold onto it past the 14 days?

I had huge issues as well. Mine are all fixed. They had to do some changes on their side. Unfortunately, I don't have details outside of a vague comment about profiles needed to be updated. I did not get LTE for days now it's 90% there. Number sync will kill your battery. It would not last even a day on or even when it's disabled,.

All, I updated my opening comments with a video of what I have learned to date. Check it out. If you have experienced something different please let me know

ebpman said:
All, I updated my opening comments with a video of what I have learned to date. Check it out. If you have experienced something different please let me know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome videos @ebpman! I didn't think it was too long at all. It's too bad stand alone music streaming isn't possible yet with the 2nd edition but hopefully it will be soon. That's the only feature I'm really looking forward to.
For battery life, I guess our experiences differ. I haven't had one AW watch that has lasted more than 2 days on a single charge so I think in comparison the 2nd edition watch is comparable to or better than most AW watches out there in regards to battery. With my watch tethered and always on display off, I can get a little over 2 full days. I haven't used my watch in stand alone for a full day but on the days I work out or hike (which is normally 2-3 hrs of untethered time) with GPS and cellular, I can estimate that I could have made it the whole day with some battery left over. I mean your experience might be different because you probably have experience with a ton of wearables and how you use your watch.
Maybe one day I will try to go through a day or two untethered and see how battery life is. I just don't see myself actually doing that in a real life scenario for me.
Please keep the videos coming! I'm getting ready to get a Gear S2 3G for my mom and I watched all of your videos on that. I'm jealous that she will already have music streaming ready to go on the watch. haha

Anyone try this with an iphone. If so does it work well: Notifications such as imessages, text, emails, phone calls through numbersync. I have a gear s2 3g for att, that I need to sell, since I sold my S7 edge. The gear s2 doesn't work with iphone, and I'm hoping this one does. I have the apple watch, but not the biggest fan of it.

Hi
Can you use cellular data on this watch to remotely connect with the phone when not paired with Bluetooth mean not in range?
This is the case with gear S. You can carry only the watch and get all text and messages from the phone to the watch using data.
Does this watch function the same way?
Thanks

gpx said:
Hi
Can you use cellular data on this watch to remotely connect with the phone when not paired with Bluetooth mean not in range?
This is the case with gear S. You can carry only the watch and get all text and messages from the phone to the watch using data.
Does this watch function the same way?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can leave the phone at home and still receive notifications/texts when paired through cell data.

I bought the LTE 2 the other day. The hardware and screen anre fantastic, although it is let down by the software IMHO. The launcher is poor, and the whole experience feels like it isn't quite ready yet and needs a few more iterations to be mature. It's basically a stand alone phone so why can't i have native email, or headset use? It's still set up as a partner to a phone, which is a shame. Can't get WhatsApp without the phone, nor working Google maps, which is irritating as the hardware doesn't need the phone really. Runkeeper doesn't work without a phone, which really takes away the benefit. May as well get a cheaper device which is a true partner to a phone and doesn't require a separate LTE montlhy line.
But i love the look of it and I hope they update the software soon.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using XDA-Developers mobile app
---------- Post added at 08:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:41 PM ----------
Great video by the way. I'm going to try just cellular, and switch off wifi and Bluetooth to see if battery is better . it usually is on my phone...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using XDA-Developers mobile app

Cancel Data Plan with LTE Gear S3 ?

I have been using my Gear S3, Frontier, LTE version on T-Mobile for close to a year. In looking back over my use, I have discovered that I really don't need the extra expense of the data plan. I always have my paired phone (Galaxy S9+) with me and have only used the watch for phone calls a couple of times. I used the Gear for phone calls a few times when I first got it, and that was to test the service. For real calls, I just use my phone. I DO use Samsung Pay with the watch fairly frequently.
I am considering dropping the cellular plan for the watch. I have turned off mobile data on the watch, and left Bluetooth and WiFi on. Of course, I still get notifications on the watch.
My question is will I lose anything other than phone calls and the remote connection to the watch having cancelled the data plan? Will Samsung Pay still work as long as my phone is within Bluetooth range when I make a purchase?
TIA

The only thing I've lost is the call making ability. Samsung pay still works, even when my phone's in the car. Haven't tested out remote connectivity, but I'm assuming if it's connected to WiFi, you're good